Clothesline supporting and tightening device



Jan. 29 1924. 1,481,940

C. C. TURNEPSEED CLOTHESLINE SUPPORTING AND TIGHTENING DEVICE Original Filed Dec. 29 1920 Clare/(ca 6' Tawepseed Patented Jan. 29, 1924.

UNITED STATES;

CLARENCEU. TURNEPSEED, F SPRINGFIELD, OHIO.

CLOTHESLINE SUPPORTING AND TIGHTENING DEVICE.

Application filed December 29, 1820, Serial No 433,855. Renewed December. 20, 19 23.

To all whom it may concern: j

Be it known that I, CnAnnNon C. Turmersnnn, a citizen of the United States of America residing at 1002 W. High Street, Springfield, in the county of Clark and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in. Clothesline Supporting and. Tightening Devices 4 of.

which the following is a specification reference being had therein to the accompanying.

, art-'15. This pawl may 'beoperated by alink drawings.

The object of the present invention is to provide an improved clothesline supporting and tightening device constructed in such manner that it may be very economically manufactured and, when in use, will be capable of exerting the necessary pull upon the clothesline or lines with such leverage that a woman will have no difliculty in lifting the line full of clothes. y

A further object of the invention is. to provide a device of the character described having means for holding the lines in any adjusted position or for lockingthe device against movement by unauthorized persons. Afu-rtherobject of the invention is to provide a device of the character 1 described adapted to simultaneously e-levatea plurality of lines and. sic-arranged that theoperating mechanism may be; located at a comparatively low level, while the lines may be elevated to any desired height. p

It is also an object of the invention to so construct the parts that clogging of the mechanism by ice and snow will be prevented.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the detailed description which follows.

In the accompanying drawing:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a device constructed in accordance with the invention;

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view through the fixed pulley hereinafter described;

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view through the housing of the pulley upon the short arm of the movable lever; and.

Fig. 4 is a detail view of a modified form of equalizer bar hereinafter described.

Like numerals designate corresponding parts in all of the figures of the drawing.

In the drawing 5 designates a support which may be a post or a block adapted to be secured to a wall, such as the wall of a 1 housing 26 may be secured directly to a wall,

house. Secured to thesupport 5 is a segment 6 having teeth 7 formed thereon. The segment is securedtothe support 5 by fastening devices indicated at 8. The segment comprises a vertical rib 9 to which a lever of; inverted L shape is pivoted at 10. This lever comprises ashort arm 11 and a long arm 12, the latter being provided with an operating handle 13.- A pawl 14 adapted to engage the teeth 7 is pivoted to the arm 12' r a collar 20 upon the link16. A chain cable or other flexiblestrand indicated at 21 is fixed to the segment at 22 and its bight por- 7 tion passes over apulley 23- that is journaled for rotation upon a shaft 24 that is supported in an offset housing 27 of the short arm 11 of the Lshaped lever. From, the pulley 23thei chain 21 passes over a pulley 25- that isjcurnalled in a housing 26 that isadapted to be supported upon a support 5 which be in the nature of a block.

It is manifest that the segment and the such as the wall of a house instead o-f-being secured to the post 5 and block 5 as shown. An advantage arising from having the block 5 separate from the block 5 is that this renders it possible to place the housing 26 at any desired height above the segment. Thus it is possible to place the operating handle and the segment comparatively close to the ground, where they will be readily accessible and at the same time place the housing 26 at such a height as to maintain the lines at a considerable elevation.

The housings 26 and 27 prevent the entrance of snow and ice to the pulleys 23 and 25, th housing 27 being slotted at 28 and 29 only enough to permit the passage of the flexible strand 21, and the housing 26 being closed except for the presence of slots 30 and 31 through which said strand passes.

The upper end of the strand 21 is con- 1 nected at 32 to an equalizer bar 33' adapted to have the ends of the clotheslines 34; attached thereto. This arrangement assures an equal tension upon all of the lines 34.

In Fig. 1, I have illustrated two of the lines 34 attached to the equalizer bar. In Fig; 4, I have illustrated a construction wherein an equal tension may be secured upon four lines. In this case the equalizer bar 33 is provided with, pulleys 35 over which the lines 36 pass.

It is sometimes desirable to leave clothes hanging on the lines all night. To prevent the clothes from being stolen, I have provided a bracket 87 upon the arm. 12 that is adapted to align with a bracket '38 upon the support 5, and when these two brackets are brought into abutting relation, the shackle 39 of a padlock 40 may be passed through them to lock the handle 12 in its lower position and to consequently lock the lines in their elevated position.

The lines are preferably made of wire so i that they cannot be readily out. By using galvanized wire it is possible to leav these lines out permanently without rusting. Thus the housewife is not put to the trouble of taking the lines in after every wash.

Among the'advantages of the present construction are the following: No props are needed to support the lines; the lines and clothes are held out of the reach of children, dogs and other animals; the danger of a person running into the lines in the dark and being injured thereby is avoided; the lines are held high enough for an automobile or buggy to pass thereunder; the leverage semay be raised and lowered makes it an easytask for the housewife to air bedding such as blankets, spreads and the like.

7 It is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the precise construction set forth but that it includes within its purview whatever changes fairly come within either the terms or the spirit of the appended claims.

Having described my invention, what I claim is:

1. A device of the character described comprising a toothed member an L shaped lever comprising a short arm and a long arm pivoted at its heel to said toothed member, a pawl upon said lever engaging the teeth'of said member, an antifriction element at the free end of the short arm of the lever, a flexible element passing there'- over and having one end fixedly secured, and an antifriction element disposed above said toothed member over which said,fiexible,ele ment passes.

2. Av device of the character described comprising a toothed arcuate segment, means for attaching the same to l a support, an L shaped lever comprising a long arm and a short arm, the'heel of said lever being pivoted to said toothed segment and concentrically with relation thereto, a pulley at the free end of the short arm of the L shaped lever, a pawl upon the longarm of the L shaped lever cooperating with the 

